At my 1st half yesterday, about halfway through, i was talking to some people who were curious about me being barefoot, when a man who was eavesdropping decided hed chime in: "im a HEELSTRIKER!, I could NEVER run barefoot!" I remarked, you probably wouldnt be heelstriking if you were barefoot. He sarcastically laughed and said, "ya, and i wouldnt be as fast either!".... I passed him within a mile
I pass people on my gravel trail, they never here me and jump out of there skin, I usually get right on them and yell passing. There like freakishly staring at me like I am a psycho ax serial killer lol.
Beth, I'm signed up for a local 1/2 that is $35.00 (early registration). And the three others I hope to do this year range in price from $50-$70. I never really thought about it before, but those fees are all over the place! Hmmm.....
See, this is why so far I have avoided group runs. I am still so slow I would totally blow the effect. Shod heelstrikers would pass me in droves and I'd give all BF'ers a bad name!
Wideguy--I'll admit to having the same concern. But I think that people can see your JOY in running...especially people who know you. If they see that, many of them will realize it's more important than speed.
I'm so gushy about how much I love running that I think I probably annoy my friends...but SOME of them have decided to try running, even minimalist running!
I told my wife yesterday, one of the best things about running a race barefoot, is that no matter how slow I run, people are still in awe of a barefoot runner. Pretty cool. ;-)
Aww Thanks Pbarker, and Beth. I'm doing a fun run with Chris McDougall in Boston in two weeks, and doing the Boston IBRD event. My only issue is that the joy is still hard to convey when you weigh 255 lbs and look like you might just drop dead in a mile. People see me running and the last thing they notice is the bare feet.